> It seems the power of Iranians’ use of twitter might be as historic as the purple thumb of Iraqi voters.
Much more. This is a game-changer.
The fall of the Soviet Union was precipitated by a secret version of Arpanet running on Russian microcomputers. The Soviets had monkey-copied the DEC PDP-11 and bought pirated copies of the operating system. Part of that OS was the software that ran Arpanet and then Usenet in the US. Dissident scientists and academics had a back-channel communications network the apparatchiks knew nothing about.
The Iranians are using Twitter openly, but Falun Gong dissidents from China have made their proxy-server networks available to frustrate attempts by the Mullahs to shut down the internet. With satellite phones like the Iridium technology, censorship would be virtually impossible.
One of my key precepts, more true every day: They can’t enslave us because they can’t catch us.
Like privacy, tyranny is a by-product of information inefficiency.
It appears that established news channels are relying on twitter feeds for breaking news, and not vice versa- in my two years as a twitter fiend, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen that. It is truly a shift in not only communicating, but also how we think about communicating- it is a game changer for many reasons. People, not corporations, are in control of the news right now. Media can only follow along- the same way the rest of us do. They can’t break the story or even decide the story.
One person with an outside line can change everything. It’s astounding, but not so much, is it? We saw this coming, didn’t we? It’s what we’ve been working for, right? At the same time, it’s amazing to watch.
I was watching the news on Fathers day with my family and saw the video of the girl who was shot – #neda.
It made me wonder why a father would take his daughter to a place where her life could be threatened. The human need for news, communication, networking, organizing for a cause….
Such a sad event, yet significant in the fact that we’re able to connect with those protesters through simple technology such as Twitter and Youtube.
I hear mortgage and real estate people talk about social media in terms of how it will make a difference in their businesses.
Where’s the ROI, and why should I care?
However, on the other side of the world, kids my age are depending on the social web for their life. Without their voices being heard online, this revolution may not have gained the momentum it needed to make a difference.
Unfortunately, the top three stories on the news this morning were about another politician cheating on his wife, some divorce on a reality TV show, and a celebrity who beat his girl friend. I already know the top two things that are going to consume the media tomorrow, and it isn’t the massacre in Iran.
I don’t know much about their politics or religion, but reading the personal stories of death and defiance unfold in real time is profound. I wish I could do more to help these people stay alive.
Either way, I spent my Fathers Day creating a breaking news site that streams in all of the twitter conversations that pertain to #iran #iranelection…..
Jeff Brown says:
It seems the power of Iranians’ use of twitter might be as historic as the purple thumb of Iraqi voters.
June 21, 2009 — 11:39 am
Greg Swann says:
> It seems the power of Iranians’ use of twitter might be as historic as the purple thumb of Iraqi voters.
Much more. This is a game-changer.
The fall of the Soviet Union was precipitated by a secret version of Arpanet running on Russian microcomputers. The Soviets had monkey-copied the DEC PDP-11 and bought pirated copies of the operating system. Part of that OS was the software that ran Arpanet and then Usenet in the US. Dissident scientists and academics had a back-channel communications network the apparatchiks knew nothing about.
The Iranians are using Twitter openly, but Falun Gong dissidents from China have made their proxy-server networks available to frustrate attempts by the Mullahs to shut down the internet. With satellite phones like the Iridium technology, censorship would be virtually impossible.
One of my key precepts, more true every day: They can’t enslave us because they can’t catch us.
Like privacy, tyranny is a by-product of information inefficiency.
June 21, 2009 — 12:01 pm
Brad Coy says:
And to think we all once thought “Twitter, what a silly name?” “Kid stuff”.
The writing is on the wall for freedom – 140 characters at a time.
June 21, 2009 — 12:32 pm
Robert Kerr says:
Watching this unfold in Iran is amazing. The presence of the Internet makes it a whole new world.
June 21, 2009 — 4:25 pm
Richard Riccelli says:
http://thestimulist.com/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-protest-twitterers/
June 21, 2009 — 7:22 pm
Teri Lussier says:
It appears that established news channels are relying on twitter feeds for breaking news, and not vice versa- in my two years as a twitter fiend, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen that. It is truly a shift in not only communicating, but also how we think about communicating- it is a game changer for many reasons. People, not corporations, are in control of the news right now. Media can only follow along- the same way the rest of us do. They can’t break the story or even decide the story.
One person with an outside line can change everything. It’s astounding, but not so much, is it? We saw this coming, didn’t we? It’s what we’ve been working for, right? At the same time, it’s amazing to watch.
June 22, 2009 — 4:48 am
Cheryl Johnson says:
And, as a very small gesture of solidarity, I updated my own twitter location, as suggested in the article linked by Richard.
June 22, 2009 — 6:37 am
Mark Madsen says:
I was watching the news on Fathers day with my family and saw the video of the girl who was shot – #neda.
It made me wonder why a father would take his daughter to a place where her life could be threatened. The human need for news, communication, networking, organizing for a cause….
Such a sad event, yet significant in the fact that we’re able to connect with those protesters through simple technology such as Twitter and Youtube.
I hear mortgage and real estate people talk about social media in terms of how it will make a difference in their businesses.
Where’s the ROI, and why should I care?
However, on the other side of the world, kids my age are depending on the social web for their life. Without their voices being heard online, this revolution may not have gained the momentum it needed to make a difference.
Unfortunately, the top three stories on the news this morning were about another politician cheating on his wife, some divorce on a reality TV show, and a celebrity who beat his girl friend. I already know the top two things that are going to consume the media tomorrow, and it isn’t the massacre in Iran.
I don’t know much about their politics or religion, but reading the personal stories of death and defiance unfold in real time is profound. I wish I could do more to help these people stay alive.
Either way, I spent my Fathers Day creating a breaking news site that streams in all of the twitter conversations that pertain to #iran #iranelection…..
http://www.breakingirannews.com
I don’t have a business model, or an agenda. Just felt compelled to help spread the news and give a tiny amplification to their online voices.
June 25, 2009 — 6:58 pm
Greg Swann says:
Very nice, Mark. That’s a great thing you’ve done.
June 25, 2009 — 7:32 pm